Senior Project Manager

Overview

Purpose:

Dole Packaged Foods is a purpose led organization that is a champion of accessible fruit nutrition and builds a brighter future for people through the goodness of fruit.

At Dole, our culture is uniquely driven by core Values. Our commitment to these Values transforms our work into a meaningful journey toward a brighter future together. Here, you'll be part of a respectful, inclusive culture that deeply values our colleagues, customers, and global communities. We strive for excellence, empowering each other to confidently overcome challenges, continuously learn, and achieve world-class results. Guided by unwavering integrity, our actions consistently reflect our commitment to always doing what's right, fostering lasting trust and strong relationships. Through a spirit of collaboration, we cultivate positivity, generosity, and genuine teamwork, enabling collective success toward our One Dole Purpose. Our innovative spirit leads directly to meaningful outcomes and business success.

Senior Project Managers (SPMs) lead complex, high-impact, enterprise-level projects beyond the innovation pipeline—such as capability building, digital transformation, regulatory compliance, sourcing optimization, and commercial strategic programs. These projects often span multiple regions, functions, and leadership levels.

As a lead role within the PMO (Project Management Office), the Senior Project Manager (SPM) is responsible for leading enterprise-wide strategic initiatives across the organization, ensuring disciplined end-to-end execution, governance, and value realization. This role applies appropriate delivery frameworks (Stage Gate, Agile, hybrid, or non-product methodologies) based on project type, business need, and enterprise priorities-not limited to innovation projects.

This role provides flexibility to work in a hybrid environment of home and our Westlake Village, CA office. (Hybrid is defined as 3 times per week in the office).

Responsibilities

Primary Accountabilities:

Enterprise Portfolio & Strategic Initiative Leadership

• Leads comprehensive E2E project management discipline, scope, timelines, resources, success criteria, governance, risk management, and cross-functional alignment, by delivering projects on time and budget.
• Drive enterprise-level strategic decision making by aligning initiatives to corporate strategy, financial targets, risk posture, and long-term capability objectives. Project success is measured by business value realization, not solely commercial launch metrics.
• Serve as accountable delivery lead for enterprise-wide, cross-functional initiatives, including not limited to transformation programs, capability building, compliance initiatives, operating model changes, and innovation platforms.

Enterprise Cross-Functional Orchestration

• Cross functional management of senior leaders, regional markets, sourcing sites, Supply Chain, Finance, Digital/IT, and HR.
• Facilitate decision-making and escalation management across complex organizational structures.

Benefits Realization & Value Measurement

• Support creation of value frameworks and benefit tracking for strategic initiatives.
• Conduct post-launch/closure reviews documenting learnings and ensuring global scalability.

Change Management & Leadership Alignment

• Partner with VP Strategy & Innovation and Business Management Strategic Office (BMSO) umbrella leadership to implement new ways of working.
• Lead communications, stakeholder mapping, readiness assessments, and adoption plans within their project scope.

Capability Building & Governance Support

• Reinforce PMO methodologies, stage-gate principles, and enterprise decision frameworks.
• Support capability building across Project Teams and SPLs as part of the enterprise maturity uplift.
• Anticipate risk scenarios (resource capacity, timeline constraints, technical and manufacturing capabilities, financial, CAPEX management, compliance requirements, supply constraints) and create mitigation plans.
• Lead and communicate risks, issues, and escalation protocol to executive leadership.
• Analyze, optimize and/or identify “speed to market” project tasks, creating task force teams, outlining critical steps, identify compressed lead time options, and continuous efforts to evaluate and simplify.
• Lead weekly cross functional team meetings, provide stakeholders updates, and lead effective project oversight within the Americas and internal manufacturing (US: DATW and Asia: DFL and DTL)
• Manage projects through project management tools (Smartsheet, SharePoint, PPT, and other applicable software and/or systems)
• Maintain documentation control, enhancements, and implementation within PM systems/tool.
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Experience, Knowledge, & Skills You Bring:

• 7-10 years of experience in senior project management and organizational skills, able to manage multiple projects, prioritize, meet deadlines, and oversee complexity effectively.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to manage stakeholders effectively and in a timely manner.
• Able to work within a global footprint and cross-functionality among factories and ODMs/OEMs, marketing managers, sales teams, supply chain operations, procurement personnel, and quality assurance teams to execute effectively.
• Proven experience leading complex enterprise initiatives across multiple functions and regions, including innovation/renovation, transformation, operational, digital, and/or regulatory projects.
• Drives effective team management, team empowerment, critical thinking mindset, assessing product/packaging/processing feasibility, business/financial viability, and projects readiness throughout the appropriate enterprise delivery frameworks (e.g., stage gate, waterfall, hybrid), ensuring rigor aligned to project type and risk .

What You’ll Need to Succeed:

• Passionate about a purpose driven career
• Committed to fostering inclusive environments that support employee development and well-being
• Sets clear expectations, encourages innovation, and drives continuous improvement
• Models and coaches towards transparency and integrity in decision-making

• Effectively facilitates cross-team communication and teamwork

Education & Certification:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business (or equivalent), Food Science/Technology, Engineering (or science-based equivalent) is required.
• PMP Certification is strongly preferred.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to sit and use the computer for extended periods of time; ability to answer phones and use a variety of office equipment; ability to lift 15 pounds and reach overhead.

Travel Requirements:

• Occasional travel is required.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or on the basis of disability.

FOR JOBS BASED IN CALIFORNIA:

Hiring Pay Scale: $145,000 to $170,000

Dole Packaged Foods is committed to paying our Associates fairly and equitably. The pay rate offered will consider a wide range of factors, including but not limited to experience, education, accomplishments, and location. Pay scales are subject to review on a regular basis and will be updated as appropriate.